Aki Destroyed
by KuraiTamashii
Summary: Aki is destroyed by Nobunaga Oda and Motonari Mori is terribly injured. Those who survived have no where to go and it's up to Mitsuki Mori to lead them somewhere safe until Nobunaga's reign over the land... is over. Rated T for violence. Will Be on Hold Due to Holiday
1. The Destruction of Aki

**AN: Yo! I'm glad that you stumbled across here. I warn you now that I'm no Stephen King… unfortunately. This is my first go at writing FanFiction, so bear with me. I've had this idea for a while and finally decided to put it to paper… errr web page.**

**Disclaimer: I absolutely don't own Sengoku Basara or any characters except my OC's and the plot. If I did, it'd be a dream come true.**

Aki Destroyed

The Destruction of Aki

~Mitsuki POV~

I heard the sound of clashing metal as the two armies fought against each other and the fierce flames of burning buildings. I thrust my sword through the chest of the soldier attacking me and looked around to survey what our situation was. Many more soldiers in the gray armor of Nobunaga Oda ran at me with their swords raised and I brought up my own sword to defend myself. Before they could reach me though, they all fell to ground in death and I looked up to see the familiar face of my brother, Motonari Mori in his green armor. He slew some more soldiers before asking me,

"Mitsuki… what is our current situation?"

"Not good. Nobunaga's forces are starting to overrun us. We've managed to get most of the people that are still alive out of Aki though," I paused and then asked, "I think it would be wise to leave brother. We can't win this battle."

Motonari ignored my last statement and ran off while slashing whoever dared to come too close to the deadly ring blade. I shook my head in annoyance and continued to fight while running in the opposite direction of my brother. I heard the sound of falling wood and turned to see our castle in flames and changed direction instantly. I wanted to make sure that everyone had made it out and that no one had been left behind or trapped. I saw some movement in a nearby burning house and stopped to help. I broke down the wooden wall and a woman and her young child crawled out. They looked up at me with fearful eyes and I crouched down to their level. I pointed towards the forest and spoke soothingly,

"Run towards the forest. You should find the other townspeople there."

The woman nodded and ran off while carrying her child. I gave a small smile and turn around just in time to avoid a sword lopping my head off my shoulders. I gave a small kick to my long sword and it swung up to parry the enemy soldier's as he took another swing. I brought out my spear headed chain and flung it into the chest of the enemy. I pulled my weapon out and continued running towards the castle.

I soon reached the burning castle and my face changed to one of shock. The roof and multiple floors had collapsed already. I smashed my sword through the debris that had fallen in the entrance and saw multiple huddled forms trying to crouch away from the flames. They saw me and stood with determined looks on their faces. I smiled and shouted above the roar of the flames,

"Run towards the forest! But be careful and avoid Nobunaga's men!"

They nodded and began running where I had told them to. I scanned them as they ran past me and quickly grabbed the arm of a tall ginger boy. He stopped to stare down at me while I stared back up. He gave a small nod and ran off, while calling over his shoulder,

"I'll make sure that everyone is treated. Don't worry."

I waved to show that I had heard and ran off, knowing that he would've made sure that there was no one left behind. I ran back into the battlefield and slew anyone that wore the gray armor of the enemy. I soon saw some injured Mori soldiers fighting nearby, looking rather tired. I picked up the speed and ran while flinging my chain into the neck of one of the enemy soldiers while using my sword to kill the others. The Mori soldiers nodded their thanks and I flicked my head towards the forest, signalling that they should retreat. They gave me a grim look before running off. Still fighting, I began to make my way towards any injured soldiers to get them to retreat to safety. I saw many dead bodies of soldiers and the people of Aki littered the battlefield and town as I made my way around the battlefield, slaying those who threatened us. Once I'd finished getting the injured soldiers out of here, I began to look around for my brother.

"Motonari Mori, where could you be…?" I mumble to myself.

* * *

~Motonari POV~

I spun my ring blade around in an arc, killing the soldiers that attempted to surround me with futile attempts. They fell down simply right at my feet and I glared as more of the Oda Clan tried to kill me. These soldiers were slain simply as well and I suddenly heard a bout of maniacal laughter coming from the courtyard of the burning and collapsing castle and I started running towards it. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw some of my soldiers retreating into the forest just out of Aki. Cowards. Suddenly, I heard the laughter again and continued to run as fast as I could towards the familiar laughter that can somehow be louder than raging fire. I burst through the fallen wall of rock and skid to a halt. I glared at the man who had caused the attack on Aki. He smiles at me with glee, glad at seeing blood staining my armor. My own and my enemies. The twin scythes he used to fight were dragged along the ground, creating sparks as he walked like a drunk in my direction. I readied my weapon and shot forwards just as he did. Our weapons clashed together multiple times and Mitsuhide Akechi finally decided to talk.

"How do you enjoy seeing your lovely Aki in flames and chaos Lord Mori?"

"You dared to disturb the peace in the land of Aki. You will pay for that you insane bastard." I replied angrily.

"Ahh, but you were ready for my attack. That means you must've known that I would attack now."

I ground my teeth in frustration at his words. In truth, I didn't know that the Oda were going to attack us until Mitsuki saw them marching towards us. I ran at the bastard and went all out against him. He in turn, did the exact same thing.

My ring blade clashed against the twin scythes for probably the thousandth time and Mitsuhide jumped back and cackled evilly while stroking his blade. His entire face had a look of a drunk idiot and it sickened me. We were both breathing heavily and bleeding from multiple wounds. He looked unusually happy about how this fight turned out and I was mildly curious why. Multiple lightning strikes cracked above in the sky and I saw a shadow of a man out of the corner of my eye. I swung my head and a horrified look came across my face before it was covered by my stoic mask as Nobunaga Oda stood in the way I'd entered the courtyard. He was smirking as he had clearly seen my previous expression. The only problem with my looking at the Devil King was that it gave the Akechi bastard the time to attack me. I turned and tried to raise my weapon to counter the attack, but wasn't fast enough. One of the scythes cut a deep wound diagonally down my chest. My eyes widened slightly and I stumbled backwards in shock and I didn't see the other scythe aimed for my head. I saw a white flash as it connected with the side of my head. Blood dripped from my wounds on my body and the freshly made one on my head. My vision was spinning and I was beginning to feel dizzy. I stood defiantly though and prepared to defend myself. I heard the familiar cry of my sister nearby and I felt explosions of pain in my body. It felt like the world was slowing down as my vision went black and I fell to the ground.

* * *

~Mitsuki POV~

Running in the direction that I'd seen my brother disappear in and I was worried. He was injured and obviously had seen whoever was leading the attack. My guess would be that the offender of this attack was Mitsuhide Akechi, but you couldn't be too sure with Nobunaga having a few other people serving under him. There were no more Mori soldiers on the battlefield due to me kind of forcing them to retreat into the forest to be with everyone else. The only people left were my brother and I. I heard maniacal laughter up ahead and increased my speed greatly. My worry had increased greatly now.

There was a section of wall that hadn't crumbled and I leapt onto it nimbly to watch what was happening on below in the courtyard. I was shocked to see Mitsuhide bleeding from many wounds along with my brother having a grievous one along his chest that was dripping blood onto the ground below him from many more. He was staring at something or someone and I turned to see Nobunaga Oda. I became terrified for my brother's safety, but kept silent for my own. Nobunaga raised his well-known gun and emptied the barrel at my brother.

"Motonari!" I cried out in horror as my brother fell.

Mitsuhide and Nobunaga swung their heads in my direction and rage filled my heart. I leapt into the courtyard and drew my weapons. I stood in front of my brother protectively and glared at both of them. Not giving them a chance to attack me, I flung my chain at Mitsuhide and pierced the insane bastard's shoulder before ripping it out and towards Nobunaga, but he managed to move to the side so all he got was a deep cut on the cheek.

Before they could do anything to harm me, I quickly picked up my brother's limp body and jumped away as fast as I could towards the forest, while dodging the remaining Oda soldiers. Once I was in the forest, I slowed down to a walk and lay my brother on the ground to check his wounds. I found a grievous chest wound that was obviously from the Akechi bastard and some bullet wounds from Nobunaga's gun. I found some smaller cuts along his arms surprisingly and a head wound which was probably what had brought him down. I gave an angry growl towards the people who injured my brother. _I swear that I'll get revenge on those two if it's the last thing I do! _I mentally swore to myself. I grumbled underneath my breath as I thought of the herbs I'd need that I didn't have. But I had to find the others first and make sure that we moved a fair distance away from Aki before I could even try to gather the herbs needed for the treatment of all wounds.

I heard the people of Aki whispering quietly up ahead about what they should do. I shifted Motonari's position to make it more comfortable for me and him and walked a bit faster, deliberately making noise so they wouldn't be surprised. When I appeared into the small clearing, I found swords and spears being pointed at my neck along with bows drawn. I froze and saw the tall ginger boy from before wave to all the soldiers to stand down. I growl at him in annoyance,

"Zuchiku… are you trying to kill me!?"

"Sorry. It could've been Nobunaga." Zuchiku replied to me.

I huffed and looked around. Everyone that had survived the attack truly looked pitiful and all the wounds that had been sustained would take a while to heal. Everyone looked at me to see what I would say. I closed my eyes and thought for a second. When I opened them I looked at everyone determinedly and spoke with confidence,

"We make for Shikoku!"

"What for?" One of the soldiers questions me.

"I know Motochika Chosokabe quite well and hopefully he will help us."

"If he doesn't?" Zuchiku asks me this time.

"Then we head to Oshu. Agreed?"

Everyone glanced at each other, looking unsure about what I'd just told them. I instantly knew that they were thinking about what my brother would think when he woke up. I glanced over my shoulder at him. The blood from his head wound had dried. I turned back to see the people getting ready to move. My eyes widened in surprise and I saw Zuchiku smirking at me. He shouted above the movement of everyone,

"We make for Shikoku!"

**AN: I hope that you enjoyed the first chapter of this story. I enjoyed writing it very much. If you liked it: leave a review and say if I need to improve on something. If you hated it: leave a review and tell me why you did. Also, if you'd like a description of Zuchiku and Mitsuki, just tell me and I'll write one up.**

**Also, if you are a good artist and would like to draw a cover or my characters for the story, send me a PM so I can give you the descriptions 'cause I absolutely suck at drawing. XD**


	2. Found?

**AN: I'm back with the second chapter. I'm sorry that it took so long. It took me ages to start this off as I just couldn't get the idea in my head. I'm glad to see that I got a couple of reviews as well. But anyway, I do hope you enjoy this chapter, so I will shut up and continue the story. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sengoku Basara or the characters from it. I do however, own Mitsuki and Zuchiku.**

_**-Italics **_**are thoughts**

Aki Destroyed

Found?

~Mitsuki POV~

The melodic sound of armor clinking together and some people singing some peaceful tunes broke the silence as we all walked on towards Shikoku. My brother gave a quiet moan from his position on his back and I glanced towards him. His eyes were closed although his forehead was furrowed in pain and the side still covered in blood, as we hadn't stopped moving since it was decided to go to Shikoku. I gave a grim smile and looked around in front of me to see if anyone was struggling besides myself and the extremely tired children. The few horses we'd managed to get were transporting those unable to walk and everyone else just shuffled along miserably. Zuchiku walked at the front, leading them towards our destination while I was at the very back with the stragglers and carefully erasing all signs that we'd passed by to fool those who might be pursuing us. My friend was suddenly beside me and he asked me,

"Is it safe to stop? Everyone is dead tired and can't hold out much longer."

"Yeah. We can stop for a while." I told him and shouted so all could hear me, "We will stop for a while and tend to those who have been injured!"

I heard multiple sighs of relief and snickered to myself as many people sank to the floor in tiredness. I walked over to a tree and placed my brother's limp body against the tree's trunk and began to remove the extremely annoying armor. A shadow appeared in my sight and I turned to see bandages being offered to me by an elder. I gratefully took them and once my brother's torso was free of clothes, I began to wrap the wounds to stop the blood flowing from them. It didn't help that he was unconscious either, so I called out to one of the uninjured women,

"Can you give me a hand please?"

She turned at my voice and saw what I was doing. She nodded and came over and gently held Motonari's body off the tree without me needing to direct her. I smiled and continued to bandage.

Once I'd wrapped his body, I wrapped his head in case there was more bleeding and thanked the woman before she decided to leave. She whispered to me in reply,

"No need to thank me. I was glad to help. Please excuse me."

With that, she stood up and went off to treat others. I looked up to see Zuchiku was helping those on the horses down so they could sit on soft ground and I knew he'd tend to them and the poor animals that had to carry them. I also saw the soldiers standing in multiple spots to guard and protect us while we rested. Gently easing my brother's clothes back, I pulled off my black coat and pulled it over his own clothes so he'd keep some body heat easier. After that, I stood up and searched for Zuchiku so I could tell him that I was going to go looking for the necessary herbs to help everyone. I walked among the crowd and scanned the area and I eventually found him conversing with the children that I had a feeling where asking lots of questions. I began to walk over and was soon able to hear the conversation,

"Why did we have to leave Aki Zuzu?" One child asked using Zuchiku's nickname,

"We had to leave because if we'd stayed, everyone would have fallen asleep forever."

"We don't want to sleep though. Not forever at least. Forever is a long time." Another spoke timidly.

Zuchiku smiled and told them to rest for a while, but instead they ran off to go and play around. I smirked and Zuchiku looked up to see me standing by a tree. He walked over to me and stayed silent.

"Keep an eye on everyone while I'm gone. I'm going to collect some herbs if there is any around."

"Sure. Be careful yourself though. There may be soldiers searching for any survivors."

"I'm always careful."

Without seeing if he was going to say anything else, I walked away into the forest to begin my search.

I'd been searching a few hours already and I'd only managed to find a handful of the many herbs I needed. I grumbled under my breath and scanned the plants that were around while keeping an eye out for anyone that might attack me. I saw a herb not far up ahead, so I ran and crouched to examine it. I determined that it was one that I needed and plucked a few off with my clawed, armored hand before placing it in the small pouch I had with me to carry these things. I heard the trickle of running water nearby and walked towards it to see what I looked like after the fight in Aki. It took around ten minutes to find it, because I found some more herbs on the way, but I found it.

I knelt on the soft grass and stared into the clear water that was probably the only untainted thing in Aki at the current time. What stared back at me surprised me because it I hadn't actually realized how much I looked like Motonari… besides the fact of my one gray eye and one brown eye. A tear ran down my cheek at the thought of the mighty ruler of Aki, being brought down by a surprise attack on Aki. Cowardice is what I call that. Pure and utter cowardice. I dipped my armored hands into the water and splashed water on my face in order to rid it of the soot and ash. I looked up and squinted my eyes ahead of me. A shiver ran up my spine as I saw a darker shadow against one of the many trees. Giving no clue that I had seen the person, I stood and walked off, while clearing the tracks I'd left.

I glared at the ground while I walked as I felt the sensation of being watched by someone I didn't want watching me. It had occurred to me earlier that it would have to be a ninja in order to watch me, since no one could sneak up on me besides them. The world suddenly span in my vision and I leant against a tree and coughed. I closed my eyes in order to get rid of the feeling, but it was determined to make me suffer while I was still conscious.

_Damn… Why must I suffer at a time like this? Couldn't it wait till we got to Shikoku? _I thought in annoyance. I leant against the tree for a few more minutes before deeming it safe enough to head back to where the others were. As I walked, the feeling of someone watching me became very noticeable and therefore, I became wary.

I actually hadn't noticed how far away from camp I was until I'd walked for around an hour. I guess the anxiety wasn't helping either. I knew that it was a ninja following me, since they were keeping to the trees and hard to spot while looking around casually. I glared at the ground and tried to find an excuse to stop in order to provoke them to attack me, but there was nothing so I decided to fake it. I stopped and crouched and appeared to study the ground for tracks and I felt the presence coming closer.

_Just a little longer. Then I can finally see who is following me._ I told myself patiently with closed eyes. The person following me was slowly moving towards me if I could hear their footsteps moving slowly. Then all sound disappeared as they jumped at me. I spun around with my chain in hands to block the kunai that had been thrown towards me. It fell to the ground with a clatter and I stood up to face the attacker that was sadly taller than me by a couple of inches. We both glared at each other with burning fury in our eyes. The ninja following me stood up as tall as they could and stared down at me before speaking,

"Knew that the Mori were still alive. Even if the lord is dead, his sister is still around." She spoke with the spite clearly showing,

"I knew you were following me. It was just a matter of who would attack first. I predicted if I stopped, you'd attack me." I replied smoothly with narrowed eyes.

"Why won't the Mori just vanish? The land would be so much better off without them."

"We like what we do thank you. You're just angry that your poor Nobunaga failed to obliterate us. Am I right Kuniko?"

Kuniko glared at me with such anger in her eyes, I thought that I might catch fire if she had the power to make me. She lunged at me with another kunai in hand and I flung my chain towards her. It knocked the weapon away and went upwards before spiking downwards.

* * *

~Zuchiku POV~

Mitsuki was taking a long time to come back from gathering herbs… much longer than necessary. I would go and look for her, but I didn't want to worry or leave everyone in doing so. I sat on a branch of a tall tree and could see a lot. I'd sent a couple of scouts ahead to make sure that our path was not blocked when we started to move not long after Mitsuki left and they'd come back a while ago.

I wasn't worried very much since she often disappeared from Aki for days when she was younger. If she didn't come back within the hour then I would go and look for her to make sure that she hadn't tried to drown herself in guilt or something along those lines.

I looked below me to check on Lord Motonari and saw that the pain lines on his forehead had decreased a little bit. He looked like a ghost in my opinion, but that was my own. I bet that a few people here would've thought him dead if Mitsuki hadn't said that he wasn't. I jumped from the tree and knelt in front of him to make sure he was still breathing. I placed my hand underneath his nose and felt the weak and shaky drawing of breath.

I frowned in concern and placed two fingers on his neck to feel his pulse and was glad to see it slightly stronger than a few hours ago, but worried because of his laboured breathing. I adjusted Mitsuki's coat before leaping into the tree again to see how everyone was doing. They were all sitting around in small groups silently talking to each other. I gave a small smile and looked up towards the sky. _Mitsuki… where are you my friend?_

* * *

~Mitsuki POV~

Kuniko ran at me with another kunai in hand and threw it at me before jumping back to dodge my sword swing. I dodged the ninja weapon and lunged forward with my sword, intending to at least incapacitate her so I could get away and she would be forced to return to the Oda. She also dodged and as I flew past her, she slashed at my neck, but missed and ended up cutting my shoulder. I turned to glare at her as I landed and spun around, this time with my chain spear in my hand instead of my sword. Kuniko's eyes widened in surprise, but she tried to attack me again.

I flung my chain to hit the hopefully last kunai on the tip. When it did, my weapon went up and continued its path towards the ninja while her weapon just hit the ground. She grabbed my chain with a hand and pulled while I also pulled. We were both weakening from the fight, but refused to give up until one was injured or in Kuniko's case; dead. I won the mini tug-of-war fight eventually, but we both ended up on the ground because we were pulling together. I rolled backwards onto my knees and quickly stood with my sword in hand. Kuniko ran at me with all her hatred being forced into this one strike that would decide our fates. I swung my sword upwards just as she leapt at me.

Blood sprayed through the air and Kuniko fell into a heap with blood staining the ground from the slash I caused. She slowly raised her head and I stared down at her with a glare. I pointed my sword at her throat and told her,

"Leave. Go back to where you came from before you die here in the forest."

"N…ever. I will… kill you." She gasped, trying to stand on one knee.

I shook my head and turned around to start walking. I heard a coughing fit behind me and turned slightly to see Kuniko trying to stand. I sighed and started heading back to my people.

* * *

~Kuniko POV~

I staggered to my feet and pressed a hand to the wound in my chest although I knew that it was pointless to even try. I leaned on the tree and looked down at the blood pooling below my body. I pushed myself upright and began to stagger back towards my Lord Nobunaga to report what I knew.

I saw Owari Castle in the distance and quickened my pace as much as I could. My vision was starting to gray and I was struggling to walk straight. I limped onwards and was soon at the entrance. The guards recognized me and let me in without asking why. I entered the castle and headed towards where my Lord Nobunaga was talking. I knocked on the wall to let them know I was here.

"Enter." The voice of Lady Nohime sounded.

I entered and staggered to my Lord and his wife and painfully knelt on one knee. Lord Nobunaga glared down at me and fear enveloped my very being. He drank from the skull in his hand and then spoke to me,

"What do you have to report to me?"

"The… Mori are still… alive. I found… them in the forest." I managed to gasp. I looked up to see the face of Mitsuhide Akechi in my own, so I couldn't see my Lord's reaction to the news. He knelt down and whispered in my ear,

"You have done well to bring us this information. Now rest for all eternity."

"I am glad… to have served… under the Oda…"

Pain shot through my body as Mitsuhide grabbed my dagger and thrust it through my chest. The pain soon disappeared and I fell forward as the white haired man stepped back. I lay on the floor at my Lord's feet and my vision soon faded and my life was now over in the world.

**AN: I'll tell you now that Chapter 3 will take a while to write. I have school and other activities that take up most of my time. But it will be done. Another thing is that I'm sorry for all the OC's in the story so far. There may be a couple more, but the story won't be full of them. Also, if you have an idea that sounds like it could fit in the story, then tell me and if I am able to put it in the story, then I shall. I also have to like it though. ^.^**

**If you have any questions then ask. I won't bite you if you do. The first one I shall answer now is Mitsuki's armor. If you don't understand what I'm talking about, then search in whatever internet browser you use: Mitsunari Ishida Samurai Warriors 3. Her hand and feet armor are exactly the same, but the clothes are different.**

** Hmmm... I just noticed that the POV switches a fair bit.**


	3. Finally, Our Destination Reached

**AN: This chapter was done faster than I thought it would be… that's good though right?**

**Every time I read Chapter 2, my reaction is that it sucks. In my opinion anyway. But blame that on the lack of imagination at the current time. There is a time skip from this chapter and the last one, but only by a few days.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sengoku Basara or any characters besides Mitsuki and Zuchiku… sadly.**

_**Italics **_**- Thoughts or Emphasis**

Aki Destroyed

Finally, Our Destination Reached

~Mitsuki POV~

I turned around to see how everyone was doing with the slightly faster pace that we were going at and was glad to see that they were managing quite well. Once I'd arrived back to where everyone was after Kuniko's solo attack on me, there was quite the panic that Oda might've been coming if the ninja had made it back to him. Once Zuchiku calmed everyone down, we stopped resting and continued on our way. What I hadn't realised was that a scout had been sent ahead to see how much longer until we reached the coast. He hadn't come back yet, but I was assured that meant it could be a few days.

"Lost in your thoughts are you?" One of the soldiers asked me.

"I suppose I am. It's really hard to comprehend what has happened the past few days."

"That's true. Our home was burnt to the ground, our Lord nearly killed and then an enemy ninja tried to kill you just before."

I nodded and the soldier walked off to give one of the children a ride on his back, giving in to the constant begging. I heard the giggle of happiness from the child and turned around to see how the other children were faring. Zuchiku managed to give me a wave while carrying my brother on his own back. He decided that we both take turns in carrying my brother's unconscious form so that I could rest and vice versa. A couple of children ran past me, obviously playing a game and ran onwards a bit. A figure appeared in the distance and began walking towards us. Just as I was about to call out to the children for them to stop, the figure stopped them and brought them back while telling them off for running off to far. I heard Zuchiku's voice call out to everyone,

"The scout has returned!"

We all sat on the ground to discuss what we would do now that the scout had returned with the information that we needed. He pointed to different spots on the map laid in front of us as he explained what he knew.

"The Chosokabe are going to pull into port in about three days from what I heard. The coast is only a few hours from here, but Shikoku is at least another day of constant walking. It seems that Lord Chosokabe has not yet heard the news of Aki's destruction. The Oda seem to realise that we are still around, but they don't actually know where we are which is a good thing."

I nodded thoughtfully as I processed the information. I knew that the Oda would be looking for us since I believe that Kuniko did make it back to them unfortunately. But for Motochika to have not heard the news yet was quite surprising as he always seemed to know what was happening with the Mori. I sat there and tapped the ground as I thought and the silence helped me to think of something. Frowning, I pointed to Kyushu and the east of the land,

"What about Kyushu and the East? Have they heard of what happened?"

"I wouldn't know as I didn't want to sound suspicious when I asked questions. But, I could go and find out if you really need to know." The scout answered with a shrug.

"It's fine. We can find out later since it's not necessary to know quite yet."

The ones listening nearby nodded and Zuchiku began to tell everyone that hadn't heard what the scout had said that we would be at Shikoku in around a day. They all gave quiet cheers of happiness and looked the happiest that they had been in days. I stood and everyone quieted to listen to what I had to say,

"Shall we make our goal to be at the coast by nightfall today?"

"Yes!" Was the cheer that erupted from them all.

* * *

~Zuchiku POV~

I was concerned about Mitsuki. When she came back from gathering herbs, she looked worse then when she left. I had asked her if there was anything wrong, but she just changed the subject entirely and told me what had happened with Kuniko to avoid my questioning. She decided that we start moving again for the reason that the Oda could be following us, so we did. It was a relief to hear from the scout that there wasn't much time left till we reached Shikoku. But then again, everyone thought it was since it'd mean that we could ask for some help. A sudden thought dawned on me and I called out to Mitsuki. She turned and for a second I saw Lord Mori instead of her and blinked. In that time, she'd appeared by my side

"Yes?" She asked,

"Before we get to Shikoku, we'll have to make sure that Lord Chosokabe doesn't see it as an attack." I explained.

She started to think and I left her to it. I was still carrying her brother and although I didn't mind, he was quite heavy and that was annoying me slightly.

"Zuchiku, give my brother to me and head up front. I'll handle the back for a while."

"Alright… if I see any sign of Lord Chosokabe, then I shall let you know immediately." I replied while handing Lord Mori over to her.

Before I could head to the front, Mitsuki's arm grabbed my own and she halted my movement. She looked directly into my eyes and spoke quietly,

"You saw my brother in me didn't you?"

"Yeah. I did for a second. I mean no offence in saying that you both look alike greatly." I replied, scratching my head in embarrassment.

"I don't take offence at all. Now go up and lead them."

I nodded and walked onward to catch up the people in the front. When the soldiers saw me, they nodded and backed off to where I was. _I think we should stop for the night, but Mitsuki being the stubborn person she is won't rest until we reach Shikoku… _I thought while yawning before sniffing the air, _I think we are pretty close to the sea. I can start to smell the salt of the sea.  
_

* * *

~Mitsuki POV~

I'd taken my brother from Zuchiku and sent him on ahead to lead everyone. I suspected that he knew that there was something up with me. I wasn't completely blind to the stares that he threw at me occasionally and it was getting annoying. That was the reason why I did what I did, so that I could prove to him that was fine and not someone that needed to be watched or helped all the time. I watched the children walking in front of me and gave a small, but happy smile. I was intrigued by them at how, despite what had happened the past few days, they could still be happy. I wish that all people could do that… it'd make the world a lot happier.

The smell of salt on the ocean was getting really strong and I yawned. Everyone was now yawning, but they pushed themselves as they knew the importance of getting to the coast. Zuchiku was still leading everyone while I stayed at the back and I laughed as a young child begged for a ride. Eventually he gave in and let the child on his back. I started to get lost in my thoughts and just went over in my mind what would be happening next. Pain registered in my brain and I stopped moving. I blinked in surprise and realised that I'd run into a tree,

"Ouch..." I moaned while rubbing my nose,

"Trees do tend to hurt when you run into them. I'm guessing you were lost in your thoughts _again?_" A soldier questioned me before pushing me forward to continue walking.

"I was indeed. I'm just glad that I didn't fall. That wouldn't have ended well for both me and my brother."

The soldier laughed and headed back to where he was originally walking. My cheeks heated up in embarrassment as I noticed that everyone was chuckling at my running into the tree. Zuchiku had a look of concern on his face and I glared back at him. He got the message and turned back to face the front. Zuchiku then called out,

"Only an hour until we reach the coast!"

It was surprising to be this close to the sea and not actually anywhere near it. Zuchiku and myself stood on the edge of the cliff and stared out into the vast mass of water. My coat flapped in the wind and my hair attempted to whip me in the face. I pushed a few strands behind my ear and murmured,

"Now what? Motochika uses this route to get back to Shikoku. But the question is if he's already been yet or not."

"I think we should sleep for a few hours at least. If we continue, we will have a lot more problems than just some injured people." Was the reply I got.

I sighed and nodded once to show that I agreed. It wouldn't do us any good if we continued anyway. People might begin to pass out due to exhaustion or injure themselves further. Zuchiku left my side to go and tell the others to rest or a few hours while I just stood stare and stared out into the sea. I sat on the ground and dangled my legs over the edge while I went through my thoughts.

After a while, I realised that the sun had gone down and it was now night time. I gave a stretch and jumped to my feet before heading back. I was surprise that everyone had fallen asleep since there was many things that would keep you from sleeping in the forest. Even Zuchiku had fallen asleep beside the children and that was when I realised at how stupid I'd been. _I've been so stupid. I haven't taken care of my people. My only concern was getting to Shikoku that I didn't take into account the stamina of them all._ Deciding to keep watch over them all for the night, I sighed and walked over to my brother to sit beside him. Glancing out of the corner of my eye, I saw my brother move slightly and smiled.

* * *

~Motonari POV-

_The darkness surrounded me and I was scared. Never in my entire life had I been so scared. All I could feel was pain and it felt like I was going to suffocate. If I stayed in this place any longer, I'd definitely go insane from it all. Taking an experimental step, I found that I could walk in this darkness, but it seemed like I wasn't walking on anything. _

_I walked along and looked from side to side to give me an indication of where I was exactly. There was nothing around me at all. No other living things besides myself. I stopped, fell to my knees and brought my hands to my hands to my head. Not knowing what to do, I stayed in that position and tried to remember what happened before I ended up in this place._

_What I managed to recall was the attack on Aki and then being attacked by Mitsuhide Akechi and the Devil King himself. I knew that I'd heard my sister call my name before the darkness stole me and hoped that she had given those two some wounds to remember her by. After that though, I couldn't remember anything. I didn't even know where the people of Aki could be and that was what annoyed me the most. I tried to find some source of light that would let me escape the darkness even if it was only for a little bit, but unfortunately it seemed that there was going to be no escape for me._

_I continued to walk around although I knew that it was pointless to do so, but it gave me time to think. There was nothing to think about really except for what I remembered and what could've caused the Oda to attack us. Oda did have the reputation to attack other provinces or towns for no reason, but they'd usually shown resistance in the past. I knew for a fact that my own lands had not shown any sign of resistance or rebellion against the Devil King. There had to be a reason for it and I was determined to find out._

_I realised that I'd been looking down at my feet and looked up. I blinked and rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn't hallucinating and when I knew I wasn't I gave a smirk. There was a small speck of white in the dark world I was currently in. I started to walk to it and knew that when I reached it, I would be out of this place for hopefully a long time.  
_

* * *

~Mitsuki POV~

Zuchiku smiled beside me and we stared down at the prospering town of Shikoku. I looked towards the port and was annoyed to find that Motochika's ship wasn't there. I turned on my heel and walked back to the others. They all looked at me with curious expressions and I shouted to make sure that they heard me.

"Alright, we are at Shikoku at last! The plan is that I shall go into the town alone to find out when Motochika will arrive! No one is to follow me as we don't want them to think that we are attacking when we are in fact asking for help! Is that agreed?"

Everyone nodded and I turned around again. I walked over to Zuchiku and whispered,

"Keep an eye on the children. They will attempt to follow more than anyone else."

"Of course I will. The children seem to have a fascination with me."

I walked through the town and looked around me. It'd been a long time since I was last in Shikoku and although it seemed like it hadn't changed much, it'd still changed greatly. My destination was the ports since that would be where the information I needed would be. I got some stares from the people who hadn't seen me before, but had heard of me and it was irritating. _Keep calm. This isn't Aki, so I can't start a fight here. _I thought to myself to calm down.

I was tapped on the shoulder and I spun around to face a young black haired woman. Her eyebrow rose in a questioning expression and she waited for me to answer the unasked question.

"Hello there Hanayuki. Is Motochika around?" I asked whilst scratching the back of my head,

"Yes. We pulled into port not long ago. Also, just call me Hana! How many times to I have to say that?" Was my reply plus an angry reply to my using her full name.

I raised my hands in defeat and laughed softly,

"Sorry Hana. Can I speak to Motochika or is he doing something else?"

"Follow me. He's on board and can spare some time to see a friend."

Hana walked off and I followed behind, attempting to keep up with her long strides without jogging. I heard her laugh and my face flushed. She turned her head slightly to face me and laughed again,

"You're still a little shortie Mitsuki. When will you actually grow? Or does it run in the family?"

"It's a family thing. I hope to grow though so I can stop being picked on." I grumbled in reply.

The two of us were soon at the ship's boarding plank and my friend walked up it casually while I lingered for a bit before walking up it also. I was instantly greeted by stares and I just walked past and ignored them. There was a few chuckles that could be heard and I just followed Hana, hoping she wasn't playing a joke on me like she did every now and then. She opened a door and walked through after I had and shut it behind her. The expression on my face clearly said _are you kidding me._ What I saw in my eyes was a pirate sprawled across the floor in a mass of paper and my guess was that he was just too tired to do any paperwork. I looked at Hana curiously who walked over to the giant man to wake him.

"Overdue paperwork that hasn't been looked at for months."

I nodded my head in acceptance and sat myself on the floor. Eventually Motochika woke up after having been hit on the head multiple times. I snickered as he slowly rose off the ground and sat facing me. I sighed as I realised that the guy hadn't changed a bit. He still wore his purple coloured outfit and his white hair was pushed back by who knows what. Motochika Chosokabe stretched and gave a yawn while fixing his appearance.

He'd just adjusted his eye patch when he realised that I was sitting across from him,

"Oh Mitsuki. What are you doing here? I thought that Mori had been keeping you busy the past few days."

"Motochika, we need help. Aki was burnt to the ground a few days ago and we had no one else to turn to but you." I answered his question and bowing to him.

Hana looked surprised and Motochika absolutely horrified. His mouth opened and closed countless times before he spoke again,

"Aki was destroyed? By whom?"

"The Devil King's forces were responsible for this disaster. We are currently in a forest just outside of Shikoku. Will you help us my friend?" I explained and then practically begged of him.

Motochika stood up and motioned for me to do the same thing to which I did. He looked out of one of the windows for a couple of minutes and then turned to me with a smile,

"Aye. The Mori are welcome to stay until Aki is liveable again. Now how 'bout we go and get ya men's asses over here?"

**AN: Finally they reach Shikoku and meet Motochika. I **_**attempted **_**to talk pirate for Motochika and it seems to have failed. But I tried. I hope you enjoyed this chapter since I think it turned out alright. This is the longest chapter so far and I hope that the rest of them will be around the same length. **

**Good news for you all. I have the story planned out, so I just need to put it into words. So look forward to this story being hopefully at least ten more chapters. **_**Hopefully **_**being the key word. Also that Hanayuki should be the last major OC. Bad news now. My mind is blank as to what should happen in the next chapter, so it will take a couple of weeks to write. Sorry.**


	4. Problems and Happiness

**AN: Important note this time. Please do read it if you enjoy this story. I will be going away on June 21st and will not be back until four weeks after that date. So if I don't update or anything, that's why. Thank you.**

**This chapter has another attempt at pirate talk... I think I fail still. Enjoy the new chapter though everyone.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sengoku Basara. I only own Mitsuki, Zuchiku and Hanayuki.**

_**Italics **_**are thoughts.**

Aki Destroyed

Problems and Happiness

~Mitsuki POV~

"Geez. I knew that you guys would look horrible but I didn't think that you'd look this terrible!" Motochika exclaimed with wide eyes in surprise as he saw our dishevelled appearance.

"Thanks Motochika. That's exactly what we need to hear at the current time." Zuchiku mumbled and walked up to us.

Motochika scratched the back of his head in embarrassment and mumbled a quick sorry. Hana walked over to some of the children and answered their questions. The children instantly took a liking to her and began to listen to what I think was a story of one of Motochika's travels on the ocean. I smiled and walked over to my brother while directing everyone to get ready to get moving. This time, we would arrive in Shikoku and not be seeing the plentiful trees of the forest. Motochika sat on the ground beside me and stared at Motonari with his face showing confusion. _That's to be expected that he'd be confused. He doesn't know what happened beside the fact that Aki was destroyed. _I thought while checking how my brother was doing. Motochika finally spoke,

"He looks like he's dead."

_Just state the obvious there idiot pirate. How stupid could you be? _I kept that thought to myself and instead said,

"Yeah. He nearly is. I've treated him as best as I could, but we don't have the proper supplies to treat him, plus everyone else that was injured. That's why we came to you for help."

Motochika nodded and stood up. He picked up my brother and put him on his wide back. My body instantly tensed and I forced myself to relax. I knew I could trust Motochika, but it was a reaction to Motonari's enemy, carrying him instead of myself.

"You look tired, so I'll carry Mori for ya Mitsuki." Motochika explained with a grin,

"That's fine. Don't leave my side at all. I want to be able to see my brother."

"You don't trust me do ya?"

"With what's happened recently, we can't. It's just a natural reaction since we don't know why our home was attacked. Understand that."

Motochika nodded in understanding and walked beside me. I turned around to make sure no one had been left behind. Zuchiku waved at me to signal that everyone was coming and I turned back. Hana was walking with the children and keeping them happy by playing with them. _She has a natural mother's touch. She'd make a very good mother._ I thought and stretched. I felt my armor shift and pulled at it to put it back into it's rightful position. I gave a sigh of annoyance and that triggered Motochika's never-ending curiosity,

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just my armor's gone out of place from the attack. I'll fix it when we get to Shikoku though. Not moving that way." I answered him.

We went around Shikoku, so that the townspeople wouldn't see the battered Mori Clan. It was Motochika's idea that we get on the Fugaku and stay there so Nobunaga wouldn't find us even if he came here… which I hope he didn't. I didn't want Hana, or Motochika to go through what we're going through. But we made it on the Fugaku and we were soon all on the giant ship. Motochika led us to the deck and had us sit down while he got his own men on the deck. Once everyone was assembled his loud and annoying voice rang out over the deck, making me deaf since I was standing next to him along with Hana who winced at the volume.

"Alrighty you sons of bitches! We have the Mori staying with us since Aki was destroyed a few days ago! While they are here I expect both parties to be nice and respect each other! Understood?"

"Aye Captain!"

I repeated Motochika's words to my own men in a non-pirate way and they gave out the cry of which I was pleased of,

"Yes Mitsuki!"

I sat in a room that was separated from the others that both my brother and I would sleep in. Zuchiku would also sleep in the same room if he ever decided to actually sleep without being forced to. Everyone was sharing rooms though since there wasn't really enough room on the Fugaku for the Chosokabe and the Mori to stay. But according to what Motochika said, the Fugaku was big enough for everyone. I think that most of that space was taken up by sake and whatever else pirates take with them. I heard the door slide open and I automatically turned to see who it was. Zuchiku entered the room and just sat on the ground after closing the door, whilst giving an exhausted sounding sigh. I stood and walked over to him and murmured quietly using the nickname I gave him,

"Are you really that tired Zuzu?"

"A bit. It comes with the job of being a ninja though." Zuchiku mumbled, running a hand through his ginger hair.

"Then sleep for a while. Everyone's safe and I'll take care of things here." I wasn't that concerned, but would be if he didn't sleep soon.

Zuchiku looked at me like I'd just slapped him multiple times before opening and closing his mouth like a fish. I had to try hard to not laugh at his expression. Of all the times I've ever asked or forced him to sleep, this was the first time he actually reacted like this. It was hilarious in my opinion.

He finally found the words he was looking for,

"I can't possibly do that. I need to help you as much as I can. There's so much to do."

"I'll manage. I can ask those that aren't injured badly to treat those that are. You will sleep and you will do it now or I will knock you out myself." I replied to him with a threatening voice.

He held his hands up in a way that said he'd comply. He stood up and walked over to where he'd sleep. Hana had been nice enough to bring a mat for him to sleep on and I hoped he used it and didn't just sleep on the cold floor. Giving a smile, I also stood and and headed towards my brother, to finish treating his wounds. _All that's keeping my brother unconscious is his head injury. Other than that, his other injuries will just be very painful when he wakes up. Hope he wakes up soon though... _I gave a sigh and reached to touch my brothers cheek, in order to reassure myself that he would be alright. Sneaking a look at Zuchiku, I was pleased to see that he was sleeping deeply before I left the room to check on everyone else.

I instantly regretted that decision. There was people everywhere, both Chosokabe and Mori and it was very crowded on some parts of the ship. I was glad that everyone's injuries were treated and mentally thanked them for actually accepting the help offered to them instead of biting the heads off of the pirates. From what I could hear over the many voices, it sounded like Motochika's crew were getting ready to set sail and since I knew how to do some of the work needed, I gave a hand to them. From the corner of my eye, I could see Hana and Motochika conversing, but they weren't moving their mouths very much so I couldn't read what they were saying. _Seems like they learned how to stop lip readers. Kinds sucks, but it must be private._

* * *

~Motochika POV~

Hana had come up to me whilst that bastard Mori's sister tended to him. I had to laugh a few times since she was probably the shortest in the Mori family, but if I actually said that to her, I'd be in some trouble. I turned to face Hana and she asked,

"How are we going to do this? I mean, we're going to struggle since the Mori don't know nothin' about the Fugaku Captain."

"We'll manage. Just give them the simple jobs and not the ones that my sons of bitches needa do." I replied giving her a smile.

I saw Mitsuki come out and instantly knew that we had to try and not move our mouths. _Curse the girl for being able to read lips. I thought only ninja did that and she ain't no ninja._

"We'll need to be careful. I don't completely trust the Mori, but I doubt that they'd try anything on this beauty of a ship." Hana mumbled, also noticing Mitsuki.

"Agreed. They've been my enemy for quite some time and we don't know the full story. I can ask Mitsuki later though." I yawned and jumped onto the deck below to help my sons of bitches with getting ready to set sail.

Tinkering with what I needed to do to get my beautiful Fugaku ready to set sail around the oceans. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mitsuki giving a hand with the sails and I was distracted. I made sure that I'd finished with what I was doing before walking and leaning against the railing. _Mitsuki here is the shortest on ship. I wonder why she's giving a hand when it's obvious the hardest job to do. _I asked myself before narrowing my one eye.

Carefully watching, I could see she was struggling and one of my men went up to her. I could just hear the conversation they had.

"Mitsuki, would ya' like a hand?"

"I'm fine. Don't need any help whatsoever." Mitsuki growled and I stifled my laughter.

I knew that her pride won over accepting help. She was just like her brother with that. I saw her grip on the rope start to slack and walked over before something disastrous happened. The guy talking to her raised his arms in defeat and walked off, throwing some words over his shoulder,

"If your grip loosens anymore, the rope's gonna go flyin' into ya' face Mitsuki."

Mitsuki started and turned back to the rope, only for it to quickly run through her hands. I cursed under my breath and started running towards the accident waiting to happen. The rope flung upwards and headed towards Mitsuki, only for the girl to lazily dodge it and lunge after it. She got a grip on it, but had no footing. Reaching out an arm, I grabbed onto the collar of her coat and stopped everything from moving. I laughed at her expression since her face was pure red in embarrassment and she was fuming.

_She's very lucky though. Could've had some bad rope burn if it wasn't for her armor or been dragged up and flung into the sea. _My thoughts were concerned, but I was a bit angry. Calling over some of my men, I handed them the rope and carried Mori's little sister away after swinging her onto my shoulder,

"I hate you Chika. I really do." Mitsuki grumbled at me.

"I know you don't mean that. It's because your pride has been greatly damaged from this uh… little accident." I replied, carefully choosing my words.

After that comment, the air changed to being dangerously depressed and I realised how prideful the girl was. I kept silent as I walked and once we were out of any ears, I put her on the ground and she glared up at me.

The glare that was being thrown at me was very intense and it was making me uncomfortable. Mitsuki was angry and I didn't think that it was possible to be angrier than Mori at all.

"Why did you refuse help? This wouldn't have happened if you'd accepted." I told her,

"I didn't _need _any help at all. Got it?"

"You let go of the rope! Be lucky that nothing serious happened!" I was losing my temper, but I didn't want to take it out on Mitsuki.

"Yeah I know. The guy distracted me from what I was doing so that's why this happened."

"It was the _main _sail Mitsuki! The most important sail of the Fugaku!"

I could see that Mitsuki was fuming and her eyes slightly showed some fear at my anger. _How come she was handling the main sail anyway? I told her last time she was here to not touch the sail at all._ I decided to ask that question after attempting to control my anger.

"Why were you handling the rope to the main sail anyway?"

"I didn't know it was the main sail. I thought it was a minor sail." Mitsuki yawned and began to walk off, "I'm sorry Motochika."

I blinked and watched as she walked off. My sons of bitches threw some glances at her and I knew that I'd be talking to them later about this or Mitsuki would be having some troubles while the Mori stayed. Hana called out for me and I headed off to see what she wanted.

* * *

~Mitsuki POV~

I attempted to ignore the glances that were thrown my way after the incident with the sail. I hadn't actually realised that it'd been the main sail I was trying to prepare for sailing, instead thinking it was one of the ones I could actually handle. After that though, I could understand Motochika's anger towards me, but he was still terrifying when he was actually angry and not the playful anger he sometimes used. Unable to escape the stares, I headed towards the room with my brother and kind of hoped that Zuchiku was awake so I could talk with him. He probably wasn't though, but I could try.

I entered the room and quietly shut the door behind me, only to have a kunai at my throat before it was quickly removed. I looked up and saw Zuchiku drop from the ceiling, mumbling an apology about him attacking. Knowing it was an instant reaction to being a ninja, I waved him off and walked over to my brother before sitting by his side. Looking at him, he actually looked like he was simply sleeping and I did hope that it was. _I can't handle the stress of dealing with the Mori. I've always wondered how he managed to do this while not showing kindness at all. _I thought sadly. I had always admired my brother, since the time we were little, but he was always the favourite compared to myself.

Zuchiku came up to me and looked at the two of us. I stared up at him and I didn't want him in here at the current time,

"Zuchiku, could you please leave and make sure that everyone is doing something or resting."

"Yes. I shall do that." Zuchiku bowed before leaving the room.

I smiled and coughed into the sleeve of my coat before more coughs racked at my body. I managed to muffle them and hoped that no one would hear the few that escaped. I stared up at the ceiling and just let the coughs happen until they eventually disappeared completely.

_Why is this happening. All these bad things have happened in only a few days. Once my brother wakes up, I assume we'll be out on sea for a while before we head back… unless Motochika is planning something that I don't know about. _My thoughts were confused and I sighed in annoyance. I didn't like being confused since it would take a while to not be confused. I heard Zuchiku talking with someone and I listened to distinguish the voice. Finding it to be Hana's I wanted to know what they were talking about, but I didn't obey those intentions since it was probably private and this area was now the most quiet area in the ship.

The two of them opened the door and came in, Hana with a happy look on her face and Zuchiku was hiding his own emotions so I couldn't tell what he was thinking. Turns out that Hana explained what had happened and Zuchiku wasn't happy with me for doing what I did. Hana tried his hardest to ease his mind, but that obviously didn't work at all. I sat on the ground next to my brother before Zuchiku started pacing. I looked at Hana pleadingly and she sighed,

"Zuchiku, calm down. Mitsuki's realised her mistake and won't go near the sails again most likely."

"But it would've been our fault if damage had been done to them!" Zuchiku was close to shouting,

"Nothing was though. Just forgive and forget ya' silly ninja."

Zuchiku stooped and finally nodded before sinking to the ground. He looked up and just stared into space. Hana sat next to the door, ready to leave if something went wrong and Zuchiku lost his temper, which he often did.

Just as Zuchiku was about to start getting angry and yell at my stupidity for the incident that happened, a voice sounded from behind me,

"If you lose your temper and start yelling ninja, you can consider that a death sentence."

I quickly turned around and smiled. My brothers eyes were open, just enough to consider him awake and he was looking at us in annoyance. Zuchiku looked away in embarrassment and left the room, closely followed by Hana. Motonari looked at me and sighed,

"Explain. I want an explanation now."

"Can it start with me being grateful that you woke up?"

**AN: I am starting to think I'm losing people's interest. I don't mean to, but I only think that because of the lack of reviews. I don't mean to sound annoying and demanding, but I would appreciate any kind of review. Hate or love, I don't care. Anyway, I shall see you, my lovely readers, after my four week holiday. Auf Wiedersehen!**


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